For a moment, Diana was tempted.
Only for a moment.
She thought of Eris, the Goddess of Discord. She thought of Ares—beaten, helpless, unable to so much as defend himself against Jack Kadere. Even if she and Ares joined forces, they couldn't defeat him.
And yet... Jack had saved Paradise Island. He had made Artemis the new Goddess of Discord. Her mother had told her to follow him. Even when Diana stormed off earlier, she hadn't truly been plotting his death.
Her feelings toward Jack Kadere were complicated.
Ares, on the other hand—Diana had grown up hearing her mother speak of his evil. Athena's warnings still echoed in her mind. Her desire to kill Ares burned far hotter than any hatred she held for Jack.
And even if they did team up to kill Jack, then what? Could she defeat Ares afterward?
If yes—why not defeat him now?
If not—who would stop him later?
Jack Kadere's evil came from caprice and absolute self-interest.
Ares's evil aimed to destroy humanity and slaughter the gods.
"I refuse." Diana shook her head slowly, meeting Ares's hopeful gaze.
"Why?" He stared at her, stunned. "Didn't you hear what he's going to do?"
"I heard. And I believe he'll do it. So I have ten minutes to defeat you." Her voice hardened. "If I fail, I die by your hand or his. Either way—I fight until one of us falls."
Diana changed. She became focused. Desperate. And that desperation left Ares grinding his teeth, forced to engage her again.
The blows landed—one after another. Diana took each hit without flinching, her eyes gleaming with the predatory focus of a beast coiled to strike.
That look. That state. Combined with Jack's looming presence on the sideline—it made Ares irritable. Every attack connected, yet every successful hit only seemed to make him more frantic.
She should have been weak by now.
Instead she was fierce. Relentless. The more he beat her down, the harder she came back.
"Do you see it?" Jack asked suddenly.
Donna Troy blinked. "See... what?"
"Glory." He kept his eyes on Diana. "She's like a goddess radiating light. Focused entirely on battle, but somehow that focus makes her shine brighter. Dazzling. Magnetic. Like fire cutting through darkness."
Donna stared at him, confused. A moment ago he'd been threatening Diana's life. Now he sounded like he admired her.
Jack glanced down at her and smiled.
"I'm starting to want to kill her."
"Why?" Donna's voice cracked with shock.
Admiration. Then murder. What kind of logic was that?
"I've slept with her," Jack said. "Twice. The first time, the Lasso of Truth had her under my control—same as you are now. The second time, I also forced her. I wanted to conquer her. Take what I wanted until she couldn't give me anything new, then move on."
He tilted his head, watching Diana take another hit and rise again.
"But right now... I'm attracted to her. And if that attraction grows, I might actually fall in love."
"Isn't that... good?" Donna asked weakly.
"No."
"Not for me." His tone was almost gentle. "I can only be truly free if no one holds my heart. If I fall in love with her, I won't be myself anymore. I'll hesitate. I'll hold back. I'll lose access to the pleasures I currently enjoy." He shrugged. "So killing her now would solve the problem before it starts."
"You're cold," Donna whispered. "Love is beautiful. Why do you resist it?"
"You don't understand."
His gaze never left Diana.
"Right now, I can have anyone I want. Chase her, seduce her, deceive her, force her—any woman's body, any woman's heart. When I lose interest, I move on. Taste the next one." He smiled faintly. "You, for example. I could have you right now."
The words hung in the air.
"But the moment I fall in love—truly fall in love—I lose control. My choices stop being mine. I refuse to be bound." His jaw tightened. "I came to this world to be free."
Lightning crackled. Ares had pushed himself to the limit, divine power surging through his strikes. Each bolt should have broken her. Instead, each bolt only sharpened the light radiating from Diana's form—made her more captivating.
And the more captivating she became, the stronger Jack's urge to kill her grew.
"Damn it," he muttered. "She wasn't this beautiful when I had her underneath me. This feeling—this pounding in my chest—I hate it. Completely out of my control."
He rose slowly.
"Don't be so stubborn, sister!"
Ares shrieked the words after sending Diana skidding back again. A god's senses were sharp—he could feel Jack's killing intent building in the distance, growing heavier with every second.
Diana drew a deep breath and charged again.
"You're forcing my hand!"
Ares roared. Lightning erupted from his palms—brilliant, blinding, screaming through the air.
The dim sky flared electric blue.
Diana crossed her arms to block. The impact drove her backward, her boots carving twin furrows through the earth. Sparks danced across her bracers.
Then the barrage stopped.
Diana looked down at her forearms. Lightning coiled around them, crackling, alive.
Her eyes widened. Then a fierce smile curved her lips.
She leaped.
Her gaze locked onto Ares as she brought her arms together with all her strength.
The lightning answered—roaring forward in a blinding arc, punching clean through his chest.
Behind him, the sky erupted in flame, scorching orange bleeding into white.
Diana landed hard, one knee slamming into the ground.
Ares stared down at the hole in his torso. Tiny motes of light drifted upward from the wound, floating free of his body like embers rising from a dying fire.
Then he exploded.
Flames rolled outward, flickering with bright specks of divine essence scattering into nothing.
Diana turned to face Jack Kadere.
She was breathing hard. Blood dripped from a cut above her eye. Her armor was scorched and cracked.
But she was smiling.
"I won."